Wednesday, November 30, 2011

"A Time of Roses." Awesome, weird Finnish sci fi from 1969. Takes place in a fantasy 2012 that looks exactly like 1969. A beautiful woman appears -- the spitting image of a nude model who passed away in 1976. Or is she? Bloops and bleeps by Erkki Kurenniemi, and a lovely flutey soft psych number during a love scene. Also, a look into the future of dodge ball.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

I received the nicest email from Linda of Le rêve de la poupée yesterday. She sent me photos of two books from her collection: Giovanni Belgrano's Giochi d'acqua and Giochi di terra, both from 1977. What beautiful books -- thanks Linda!!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Some nice surprises at the library book sale the other day. They must have been pruning their music section -- I came away with a nice stack of music education and electronic music books from the 70s. I also found this mysterious Japanese children's book with blue flexi-discs. The only characters I can make out are 'Kodama,' which I think is the name of the press. I love the little tabs attaching the flexi-disc to the book. Good system.

Friday, November 11, 2011

This is so good. A 1972 TV broadcast of a play - Jean Anouilh's retelling of Antigone. I can imagine seeing this and totally not understanding it as a kid, only to commit certain key details to the subconscious: Stacy Keach as the urbane sexually ambiguous chorus, outdoor scenes filmed in the glass and concrete new atlantis of Lincoln Center, the lovely Geneviève Bujold getting arrested on a hillside by gestapo motorcyclists?!? I love that this is on Netflix.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Thursday, November 3, 2011

1969 edition of Selma Lagerlöf's The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. Photo montage by Hans Malmberg. This is a traditional Swedish children's story about a boy who in his mischief is shrunken to the size of an elf, and how he befriends a tame goose who wants to be a wild goose. They fly all over Sweden, conveniently passing through every province, so that the story doubles as a kind of tourist brochure. "Oh look, we are flying over Skåne, which boasts many amazing vistas as well as a thriving economy and many amenities for people who live there..."